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Animals in the News (With a Vladimir Putin Cameo)

It's time for a look at the animal kingdom and our interactions with the countless species that share our planet. Today's photos include Vladimir Putin with reindeer, a hang gliding service dog, a golden eagle attacking a deer, and a record-setting alligator in Mississippi. These images and many others are part of this roundup of animals in the news from recent weeks, seen from the perspectives of their human observers, companions, captors, and caretakers, part of an ongoing series on animals in the news.

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A female Mossy leaf-tailed gecko (Uroplatus sikorae) -- one of a group of geckos native to Madagascar and part of the private collection of Irondequoit, New York resident and Reef Shoppe owner Thomas Wood -- pictured in Rochester, New York, on August 1, 2013. The geckos are among some of the species studied by Daniel Scantlebury, a Ph.D. student in biology at University of Rochester, for a recent paper describing slowdown in the rate at which species form on Madagascar.
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Wild ponies are herded into the Assateague Channel during a rain storm for their annual swim from Assateague Island to Chincoteague, on July 24, 2013 in Chincoteague, Virginia. Every year the wild ponies are rounded up on the national wildlife refuge to be auctioned off by the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company.
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A leopard skin burns as Indian officials and activists burn wildlife contraband including tiger and leopard skins, and bones as part of a campaign to save the tiger in Mumbai, India, on July 30, 2013. Despite conservation efforts, tiger numbers in India have declined due to rampant poaching of the cats for their valuable pelts and body parts that are highly prized in traditional Chinese medicine.
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A horse and rider perform during a "sneak peek" performance of Cavalia's show "Odysseo" in Somerville, Massachusetts, on August 6, 2013. The show, which features 63 horses and 47 human artists, acrobats, riders and performers, opened its Boston-area performances on August 7.
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Dan McManus and his service dog Shadow hang glide together outside Salt Lake City, Utah, on July 22, 2013. McManus suffers from anxiety and Shadow's presence and companionship help him to manage the symptoms. The two have been flying together for about nine years with a specially made harness for Shadow.
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In this photo taken from a remote camera at the Lazovsky State Nature Reserve in the Primorye region of Russia's Far East, a golden eagle is caught attacking a deer. Remote cameras set up to track Siberian tigers in Russia caught the golden eagle attack on a sika deer, snapping three photos as the massive bird dug its talons into the distressed animal's back.
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A rabbit hops to avoid a five-month-old leopard cub during a test of the cub's wild natural instincts at a wildlife park in Qingdao, Shandong province, China, on September 10, 2013. The test is part of the park's body examination procedure on recently born tigers, lions and leopards, according to local media.
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Asian elephant calf Zhuangzhuang which was stamped on and injured by his mother after his birth, cries in a zoo in Rongcheng, Shandong province, China, on August 31, 2013. Zoo breeders have been taking care of the calf after it was born on August 30 and nearly stamped to death by his mother, Asian elephant Nannan, local media reported.
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Snails crawl on the face of a woman during a demonstration of a new beauty treatment at Clinical-Salon Ci:z.Labo in central Tokyo, on July 17, 2013. The salon offers the 10,500 yen ($110) five-minute session with the snails as an optional add-on for customers who apply for a "Celeb Escargot Course", an hour-long treatment routine of massages and facials based on products made from snail slime that costs 24,150 yen. According to a beautician at the salon, the snail slime is believed to make one's skin supple as well as remove dry and scaly patches.
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A Chiffchaff is recorded at a ringing hut on a private reserve in East Sussex in Rye, United Kingdom, on August 21, 2013. The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) is currently in the process of recording migrating hirnundines and other birds at the reserve. The reserve is close to the East Sussex coast, and forms an ideal habitat for many resident and migratory birds, comprising of low lying reedbeds and marshy peat bog.
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A warbler is weighed at a ringing hut on a private reserve in East Sussex in Rye, United Kingdom, on August 21, 2013. The site is one of the worlds largest ringing stations, and with the help of BTO staff, trained ringers and volunteers as many as 1,000 hirundines can be ringed in one evening at this time of year. The Information gathered including age, weight and sex allows the BTO to monitor long-term population and global migration patterns which is important for conservation.
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A 40g Waxy Monkey Frog is weighed at the London Zoo, on August 21, 2013 in London, England. The height and mass of every animal in the zoo, of which there are over 16,000, needs to be recorded. The measurements are collated in the Zoological Information Management System, from which zoologists can use the data to compare information on thousands of endangered species.
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A participant falls into water after ripping the neck and head off a dead goose which was tied to a cable and raised and lowered into the water at the harbor of the northern Spanish Basque village of Lekeitio on September 5, 2013, during the celebration of "Antzar Eguna" (Day of the Geese). Contestants have to hold onto the goose for as long as possible, trying to break its neck, while being dunked in the sea. In former times the geese used to be alive.
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A 2-month-old snow leopard cub born at Brookfield Zoo in Brookfield, Illinois, on June 13 is seen in an off-exhibit den where he spending time with his mother, Sarani, on August 18, 2013. Until the cub is 3 months old, he will remain there bonding with his mom before making his public debut in mid-September.
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Kenya Wildlife Services (KWS) rangers, veterinarians and Lewa staff remove the horn of a wild male black rhino named Sero at Lewa Wildlife conservancy on August 26, 2013. Eleven of Lewa's total 73 endangered black rhinos are being relocated to neighboring Borana conservancy to afford them more space. Borana currently has no rhino population and is hoping to help increase their numbers. The horn of each relocated rhino is cut and a tracking device is fitted to monitor its movements and to help discourage poaching. Lewa has suffered severe poaching in the past. Illegally poached rhino horn is sold for large sums as an ingredient in some traditional Chinese medicine.
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A Cork-bark leaf-tailed gecko (Uroplatus pietschmanni), pictured in Rochester, New York, on August 1, 2013. The geckos are among some of the species studied by Daniel Scantlebury, a Ph.D. student in biology at University of Rochester, for a recent paper describing slowdown in the rate at which species form on Madagascar.
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A municipality worker from a dog shelter is bitten by an adopted stray dog while carrying it to its new owner in Bucharest, on September 13, 2013. A campaign to cull tens of thousands of stray dogs from Bucharest's streets after a 4-year-old boy was mauled to death has been held up by an appeal to Romania's highest court. The boy's death triggered street protests demanding action against the capital's more than 60,000 strays, who bite dozens of people every day and are a deterrent for foreign tourists. Last week, parliament passed a law allowing dogs caught in public spaces to be put down if they are not claimed or adopted within two weeks. But the Constitutional Court received a challenge filed by 30 lawmakers from all parties.
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A worker is covered by pieces of fur as he trims raccoon dog fur outside a store at a fur market in Chongfu township, Zhejiang province, China, on September 13, 2013. The 100-square-kilometer Chongfu township, which houses over 100,000 residents, is known as the biggest fur designing, researching, producing and exporting center in China. The township is the home of 1,469 fur companies, according to its government website.
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Lobsterman Steve Train tosses a lobster back into the sea while hauling traps in his boat "Wild Irish Rose" in the waters off Cape Elizabeth, Maine, on August 21, 2013. Lobster populations in Maine are booming like never before. The number of lobster processing plants in the state has more than tripled, from 5 in 2010 to 16 last year.
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Waders flock together seeking new feeding grounds during the incoming tide at the RSPB's Snettisham Nature reserve in Snettisham, England, on September 09, 2013. The reserve lies on the edge of 'The Wash', one of the most important bird estuaries in the UK, supporting over 300,000 birds.
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A wolf is pictured at the Fauna films park in Villemer, outside of Paris, on September 18, 2013. With few hectares, Fauna Films, founded by Pierre Cadeac, hosts about 200 species of animals trained for films and advertising campaigns.
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An activist wearing a gas mask stands next to a dead dog as he looks for dead bodies to collect samples to check for chemical weapon use, in Zamalka area, where activists say chemical weapons were used by forces loyal to President Bashar Al-Assad in the eastern suburbs of Damascus, Syria, on August 22, 2013.
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Devotees compete to retrieve a goat during the Deopokhari festival in Khokana, Nepal, on August 23, 2013. During the annual festival, a live goat is thrown into a pond and the team of devotees that retrieves the animal first wins.
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Prezious Perez, 15, visually impaired, hugs one of the horses from Cavalia's Odysseo in Somerville, Massachusetts, on September 11, 2013, during a "Blind Touch Tour" arranged by the show with the Carroll Center for the Blind.
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